Congress in recent years has cut a program that helps poor people heat their homes. The Do Wooders cut wood for poor families.

In fact, rather than cutting back, the Do Wooders vow to continue providing free firewood to any family that can't afford to buy it in Arnold and surrounding communities along Highway 4.

"There's a big need up here for firewood," said Wil Mehlhaff, 87, the leader of the Do Wooders and the group's longest-serving member. "There's a lot of low-income families, and it's their only source of heat."

The Do Wooders, a ministry of Chapel in the Pines in Arnold, is now entering its 25th year. On Monday and Wednesday mornings, they meet at the church, say a prayer and then head out to wherever there are donated logs that can be cut for fuel.

That prayer is an important part of the work, said Pete Padelford, 73, one of the volunteers. "This can be dangerous."

Once on scene, the Do Wooders set up a couple of splitters and back a small 1-cord-capacity dump truck so that an easy toss can put the wood in the truck.

On Monday, Dan Varty and Bob Ash were the ones manning chain saws, cutting new rounds off the logs to feed to the splitters.

Gas motors whined. Sawdust flew. Log segments went under the pneumatic splitters. Split wood seemed to jump into the truck.

In less than an hour, the load was full, the truck left for a delivery, and the engines switched off for a break, some swallows of water and a little conversation.

But not too much. The Do Wooders knew they'd have plenty of time for talk after the second cord of the day was loaded and sent on its way. That's when they planned to adjourn to a local cafe for coffee.

Producing four cords a week, the Do Wooders could easily deliver 200 cords a year, although the most they've actually done in a single year was 190.5 cords in 2010.

Group members say they now provide firewood to 90 families in the area, with each family typically needing two cords each winter.

Back when the group started, in 1990, it delivered 20 cords in a year.

"When I first started (in 1991), the wood was really hard to find," Mehlhaff said of the donated logs.

Fortunately for the Do Wooders, pine beetles these days are decimating area forests. Loggers and arborists hired to remove trees killed by the beetles often donate the logs. That means wood is plentiful, and all that is needed is the gas, fuel, machinery and volunteer hours required to convert it to home heating fuel.

According to meticulous statistics kept by the Do Wooders, it takes about 16.8 hours of labor to get each cord wood split and delivered. And through the end of December, the group had delivered 2,824.5 cords representing about 47,450 hours of work, the equivalent of 28.81 years of full-time employment for one person.

At current local prices for firewood, that represents more than $635,000 in fuel.

"It's about giving back," said Rich Milan, who was part of a splitter team on Monday." We are fortunate to have what we have."

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/calaverasblog and on Twitter @DanaReports.